When Two Worlds Collide
by 0Requiem
Summary: When Noah's Ark transports Allen and Kanda to an alternate dimension, they find two very familiar-looking boys who claim they are 200 years into the future! Now it's up to them to find out why they ended up there... And to get along, of course! NOT AU. EXPECT HINTS OF ALL POSSIBLE PAIRINGS, but mainly NxS, KxA.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Don't own No.6 or DGM outside my mind.

**Rating:** T for language and BL.

**A/N: **This needed to be done. It might be kind of obvious, but this takes place before the end of the No. 6 anime, and after the Black Order got a hold of the White Ark of Noah. Cheesy title and bad summary, but I'm not good at making things concise.

**Based on this image:** http: / 27. media. tumblr. com/ tumblr_lp0glmAdG31qjc6ryo1_500 .jpg _**(remove spaces)**_

* * *

"… I don't think we're in Italy," Allen commented, brushing off his exorcist uniform and looking around the abandoned playground the White Ark had taken them to.

"Che," Kanda glared at the white haired boy beside him. "Where did you take us, baka moyashi?"

"I don't know," he replied, scratching his head. They definitively weren't in Mater, Italy. The place was in ruins.

"What do you mean, _you don't_ _know_?" Kanda hissed at the boy, turning his blade on him.

"I mean exactly what I said!" Allen yelled back at the Japanese man.

Preoccupied, neither of them noticed the anxious Timcanpy, fluttering behind Allen and alerting them to another's presence. It was only when the golem knocked itself against his owner's head that the two noticed the white haired boy standing on the other side of the playground. He looked to be about Allen's age, and wore black trousers and a red coat with a hood. He was staring at them.

* * *

Shion was on his way home from his job at Inukashi's when he heard voices. The only voices he ever heard coming from the abandoned playground near his and Nezumi's hideout were from the two kids he had befriended, and these were definitively mans' voices. Curious, Shion followed the sound, and was stunned to find two oddly dressed men bickering. The taller one had his long black hair pulled back into a high ponytail, and he held a sword towards a shorter boy with white hair.

Shion's eyes widened at the sight of the shorter boy. He had hair as white as his own! Could it be that he was another survivor of the bee infection? He wasn't sure, but Shion thought he saw a pink marking over the boy's face, too. Shion was thinking about how to approach the two men when they suddenly stopped their bickering to face him. He gulped, but stood his ground.

"Oh, good, we found someone!" the shorter boy waved at him, a friendly smile on his face. "Hi there, stranger!"

Shion raised his own arm and waved back at the boy. He seemed nice. The taller man, however, still held his sword, and didn't look friendly at all. It was only his threatening stance that kept Shion from walking towards the strangers and introducing himself.

"Put that down already," Allen muttered at Kanda, shoving Mugen down harshly. Kanda snorted, but sheathed his blade nonetheless. He'd have it drawn in a second if the albino kid proved to be a threat. But then again, seeing Allen's eye hadn't reacted in the least upon seeing him, the boy couldn't possibly be an Akuma.

"My name is Allen Walker, and this here is Kanda Yuu," Allen spoke to the stranger, walking towards him with a friendly smile. "What's your name?"

"S-Shion," he stuttered, still eying the dark-haired man warily. The white-haired boy was speaking English, further proving that they weren't from around there. Shion was glad his school at Cronos taught the more rarely used language, else he wouldn't be able to understand them.

"Don't worry, Shion. Kanda's all bark and no bite, really. Don't mind him," Allen told the boy. "Now would you mind helping us out a little?"

"Okay… What can I do?" Shion offered, feeling at ease around the friendly boy. Now that he was close, he could see that he really did have a mark near his left eye, but it was shaped like a star on his forehead and trailed down in a line that marked his eyelid to his cheek. It was nothing like his own scar, which twisted around his entire body. His eyes weren't red, either, but silver instead.

"Where exactly are we?" Allen asked, surprising Shion.

"What do you mean?" the boy furrowed his brow.

"Is this Italy?" the boy elaborated. "We were meant to be dropped off at Mater, but somehow this place doesn't look familiar."

"Italy? Is that somewhere here in the Western District? I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar around yet, but we can go ask Nezumi, if you want," he replied.

"Western District? Is that where we are?" Allen looked back at the other exorcist. "Kanda, do you know any place with that name?" The man shook his head, looking a bit puzzled himself.

"Are you from No. 6?" Shion asked. "Did you run away, too?"

"Number six? What is that?" Allen questioned, looking very confused.

Now the shorter white-haired boy was thoroughly puzzled. He might've understood it if a sheltered person from his former home Cronos didn't know about the West District - after all, he hadn't known about it until Nezumi had taken him to it, either. But there was no way anyone didn't know about the Holy City.

"Che," Kanda, feeling impatient, approached the boys and grabbed Shion by the collar of his white shirt, lifting him off the ground. "You're wasting my time. What country is this? Italy? Spain? France? England?"

"Kanda, put him down!" Allen yelled at the taller man, but he was ignored, of course.

"I-I told y-you, I-I don't know any of those places!" Shion said, flinching under the man's impressive glare.

"Fucking idiot. Are we in Europe?" Kanda shook the boy impatiently.

"I said I don't know!" Shion screamed, kicking himself free and slapping Kanda's hands away. "I'm new to the West District and…" he trailed off, eyes widening as he remembered where he'd heard all those names they'd said. It was at school, during his history lessons.

"What? What's wrong, Shion?" Allen asked the boy worriedly. Could it be that Kanda had scared him too badly?

"What century is this?" Shion asked.

"What?" Kanda and Allen said at the same time, albeit one sounding ruder than the other.

"What century is this?" Shion repeated.

"Um, the 19th century," Allen said, scratching his head.

Shion gasped, his hand flying to cover his mouth. His suspicious had been correct.

The men were insane.

"Why do you look so surprised, baka moyashi #2?" Kanda growled at the boy. "Are you retarded or something?"

Allen snapped his head towards the other exorcist at the mention of the nickname reserved for him, but Kanda didn't notice. "The year is 2013," Shion said, noticing how Kanda knew their language.

After a moment's silence, Kanda broke out into laughter, but Allen just looked at the shorter boy with a concerned expression. "Um, Shion, we really are in a hurry to somewhere. Could you take us to this Nezumi you said you'd ask?"

"What could a rat tell him anyway?" Kanda scoffed. "Let's go find someone else to ask."

"No, matte kudasai, Kanda-san!" Shion called the dark-haired man, who had been turning away from them.

Now that he thought about it, it was very unlikely that two men would wander around thinking they were in the 19th century. Even if, against all odds, they had the same mental condition that caused that, surely they'd have been fixed by No. 6 doctors by now, or institutionalized inside the city. Besides, they dressed very oddly, and Shion doubted they had found the black uniforms in the Western District, or even in the city. They also spoke the language that had been most popular before the War. As he considered the possibility that the men really were from the past, and had somehow been transported there, Shion grew curious, and desperately wanted to know more about them.

"Nezumi isn't an animal, he's my friend. He knows a lot about the West District, and he might be able to help you. If you don't believe me about this being the year 2013, you could ask him. But I'm telling the truth, I swear," Shion said.

"…I believe you, Shion," Allen spoke after a pause. Kanda turned to look at him incredulously. "What? It's not like having doors open to different places in the world is any less weird. Why couldn't it have taken us to sometime in the future?"

Without another word, Kanda grabbed Shion by the shirt again, only this time he didn't lift him off the floor, just pulled his face close to his own. The smaller boy felt his heart speed up at having someone so similar to Nezumi that close, but tried not to show signs of it on his face.

All the while, Kanda carefully searched his expression for telltale signs of lies - or insanity. He found nothing but blatant honesty, though. The moyashi might be an airhead, but he had had a point with what he'd said earlier. It wasn't entirely unbelievable that the White Ark could take them to a strange alternative universe where there was another moyashi with the same oyaji hair and cursed eye.

He didn't have time to let go of the boy before he felt the sharp bite of a blade at his throat.

* * *

As the afternoon sky darkened outside, Nezumi started pacing his underground hideout. The airhead was usually home by this hour, stirring a pot of soup and waiting with an excited "Okaeri!" and a smile on his face. However, this time Nezumi had found the place empty after he arrived from his daily errands, and - though he'd never admit it - he grew worried.

The West Block was a dangerous place to be in at night, and Shion wouldn't be able to defend himself if it came down to it. _The airhead would probably let violent thieves beat him up and apologize to me later,_ Nezumi thought. Telling himself he was only doing it to save himself the trouble later, Nezumi went out to look for the white-haired boy.

So to say he was surprised when he found not one, but _two_ white-haired boys talking to a tall guy with hair as long as his Eve wig is an understatement. And then the Eve-wannabe grabbed one of the boys by the shirt and pulled their faces mere inches apart. Nezumi didn't think twice before he pulled out his knife and advanced on the stranger.

"Nezumi!" Shion gasped in relief when he saw his companion, but frowned when he saw what he has holding. "Hey, put that down!"

"Yeah, put it down if you want to live," Nezumi hissed at the slightly taller man.

"I was talking about your _knife!_" Shion protested at the same time that Kanda let him go to turn Mugen towards the dark-haired newcomer.

"So this is Nezumi?" Allen asked. "Kanda, drop your weapon."

"Che," Kanda didn't spare a glance at the exorcist, just continued glaring at Nezumi. "I don't like the look in his eye."

"Well, I don't like yours either," Nezumi snapped back in English, unafraid of the sword pointed his way. He held his knife, ready to pounce. "Shion, what's this?"

"They came from another dimension," the boy explained, and before the other could say anything, elaborated, "I know it sounds stupid, but they're from the past. They think this the 19th century, and they're looking for the continent of Europe."

"And you _believed_ that?" Nezumi scoffed incredulously, "You really are an airhead, aren't you?"

"It's true, Nezumi!" Allen intervened, understanding their Japanese and replying in the same language. "I'm Allen Walker, and that is Kanda Yuu, and we're exorcists from the Black Order. We were supposed to go to Italy to investigate a supposed Akuma infestation, but after we stepped into the Ark, we were transported here instead."

Shion's eyes sparkled with curiosity at the new bits of information, but Nezumi didn't look convinced at all. "Stop fucking around, damn airhead. What's with that hair anyways?"

Shion frowned at having Nezumi notice the other's hair color. He once said it looked good on him… Did he think it looked good on Allen, too? "Akuma? As in demons?" he asked, shaking off the unwanted feelings.

"Yeah. They are creatures created of human souls that are forced to obey the Millennium Earl and the Noah family. They kill humans by infecting them with Dark Matter and giving them a virus that breaks down the infected," Allen explained.

"You're wasting my time, explaining all this to these people, baka moyashi," Kanda growled. "How do we get out of here?"

"The poisonous bees," Shion breathed, and every face turned towards him. "There's a parasitic bee infection in No. 6 that kills the host by aging them in a few seconds."

Allen and Kanda exchanged a look, and, after a second, Kanda broke the silence, "Could it be..?"

"I don't see why not," Allen replied. "I've never heard of Akuma manifesting themselves as insects, but there's always a first. It would explain why the Ark lead us here, at least."

During the entire exchange, Nezumi silently eyed Shion. The boy seemed convinced that the two strangers were indeed from another world, and although he was hesitant to believe such a farfetched tale - one that was more fit to be part of one of the numerous storybooks in his library than in real life - he found himself trusting Shion's judgement on this. After all, the airhead had a high IQ and all, proving he wasn't a _complete_ idiot. Sure, his actions pretty much said the opposite, the way Nezumi saw it, but the taller boy still found himself losing some of his initial skepticism.

Besides, why would the men make up such an elaborate lie? If they'd wanted to hurt them, they could have killed Shion when he was alone, and there was nothing to be gained out of pretending to be from the past and killing human-souled demons. And even if they wanted to lie about their identity, wouldn't they have come up with something more believable?

"So you think the bees are demons?" Nezumi asked.

"Can you contact Headquarters?" Kanda asked Allen, ignoring the other man with the blade. Allen clicked on his golden earring, and shook his head.

"Well, why don't you come stay with us? We can go to No. 6 tomorrow so you can search for the Akuma bees," Shion offered.

"Who're you inviting into my home, airhead?" Nezumi growled at the white-haired boy.

"Be quiet, Nezumi. This way, Walker-kun, Kanda-san," Shion said, motioning for the men in uniform to follow him.

"I'm not going anywhere with this sewer rat─" Kanda said.

"I'm not letting this long-haired homo into my house─" Nezumi said at the same time.

Hearing the others' words, they turned their blade against each other again, throwing menacing glares and snapping insults. Allen and Shion observed their partners bicker, watching the identical vein pop out onto their forehead and the sinister aura behind them.

"The resemblance…" Shion whispered.

"… is startling," Allen muttered.

"Shall we go, Walker-kun?" the shorter white-haired boy suggested, smiling warmly at the other.

"I think so, Shion," the other replied with an equally friendly smile. They started walking, leaving the two bickering dark-haired men behind.

Allen, being Allen, got distracted by the sight of the mostly destroyed area, and wandered off away from Shion. When the other boy noticed he wasn't walking beside Allen anymore, he had a moment of panic, thinking he might've gone back to his dimension. But then he saw the exorcist, and hurried to his side.

"Please don't wander off by yourself, Walker-kun. Nezumi's always telling me this isn't a safe place to in on your own," Shion lightly scolded.

"Sorry," Allen laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I get lost a lot, for some reason."

Shion just smiled and grabbed Allen's left hand, planning on holding onto it so the other didn't stray off again. But when he clasped it, Shion felt that the boy's hand felt… odd… under the white glove he wore. Noticing his reaction, Allen smiled and explained, "That's the hand of my Innocence."

"Your… Innocence?" Shion repeated dumbly, cocking his head to the side.

"Innocence is what we exorcists use to defeat Akuma and save their human souls. Mine is the parasitic type, not a weapon like Kanda's, and it takes the form of my whole left arm," Allen told him.

"Eh?" Shion raised his eyebrows. "May I see?"

"Sure. I'll show you whenever we get to… wherever we're going," Allen said.

"Yosh! Let's go, Walker-kun," he said, and pulled the glove-clad hand towards the underground hideout, eager to see Allen's so-called Innocence. Allen laughed, letting himself be pulled along.

"Shion? Just call me Allen, okay? It's weird to be called Walker_-_kun," Allen's said, happy at having made a new friend.

"Nn," Shion agreed, equally happy. "I wonder how Nezumi and Kanda-san are getting along…"

"I hope Kanda doesn't try to hurt Nezumi. He has the habit of doing that to the Finders. Well, not outright hurting, just intimidating," Allen mused.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Shion replied. "Nezumi can handle himself."

* * *

Sometime later, Allen's growling stomach got everyone to turn towards him and Kanda to snicker. After Shion and Allen had arrived at the hideout, it wasn't long before the other two showed up, with Nezumi claiming that he didn't want "oyaji-haired strangers" in his home while he wasn't there. Kanda had just tagged along, sporting his usual ill-natured expression.

"Hungry, Allen?" Shion asked.

"A little," Allen admitted.

"I'll make some soup," the other replied.

"Hmph. You'd better make an entire cauldron of it if you want to kill _his_ hunger," Kanda muttered.

"Shut up!" Allen hissed at the exorcist, then smiled nicely at Shion. "Don't listen to him, Shion. Anything is fine, thank you."

"Oh, so you're a big eater, hm? That's okay, I'll make plenty for all," the white-haired boy said, taking out all the pans they had.

"Don't go wasting all my food, damn airhead," Nezumi muttered darkly.

"Hmm… I'll give you a goodnight kiss for it later," Shion smiled at him, catching Nezumi off guard.

"Ehh..? Kiss, huh? Who's the long-haired homo now, sewer rat?" Kanda mocked, laughing. Nezumi bared his teeth at him, a vein popping onto his forehead.

"You shouldn't tease Kanda about his hair, Nezumi," Allen said, an evil smile on his face, "He's very testy about it. He doesn't like people touching it, and he almost killed our friend Lavi when he tried to braid it."

Nezumi threw his head back in laughter, shaking with its intensity and clutching at his stomach, "B-braid? Braid his hair!"

"I'll kill you, fucking moyashi!" Kanda yelled at Allen, drawing out his sword.

"It's Allen, Bakanda!" the shorter exorcist yelled back.

"Ah ah ah, no need to get violent," Shion intervened, coming in between the two exorcists and waving his arms at Kanda. "Allen and Nezumi are just kidding, Kanda-san. I think your hair is very beautiful."

Nezumi suddenly didn't find the situation so funny anymore, and glared at Kanda. The exorcist looked surprised, and though he tried his best to hide it, flattered. He lowered his blade and Shion smiled, satisfied, before going back to his cooking. Allen just watched the exchange, biting his lip.

When the food was served, Allen dug right in, finishing his rather generous portion in a few seconds. Nezumi and Shion stared at him with wide eyes, while Kanda only snorted, unsurprised. The young exorcist didn't seem to notice though, and just refilled his bowl, humming happily.

"So, since you two speak Japanese... Is this Japan?" Allen asked.

"That's what it used to be called, yes," Shion told him.

"How did the world become…this?" Kanda asked idly, eyeing his bowl of soup. He would much have preferred it to be soba, but when he saw Shion looking at him expectantly, he started eating.

"The Babylon Treaty. In a previous war, the race that lost the greater half of its inhabitable land outlawed all armaments, and created a city state to govern the remaining six areas. And No. 6 is one of those areas," Shion repeated the words he was taught what seemed to be years in the past, but was only really a few months ago.

"So why is this place such a dump?" asked Kanda, thinking that the soup didn't taste all that horrible.

"It's the dump of No. 6, where all the unwanted criminals and runaways are deposited," Nezumi explained grudgingly.

"So is this No. 6 a really bad place then?" Allen asked, then resumed his eating, looking at Shion and Nezumi from the rim of his bowl.

"Yeah─" Nezumi answered.

"No─" Shion said at the same time. The white-haired boy gave the taller one a pointed look, and Nezumi just snorted and looked away. "It's not a bad place. There are a lot of good people there, but some are just misguided."

"There's no such thing as a misguided person," the Japanese exorcist said. "Only those who deserve to die."

"You're wrong, Kanda-san," Shion said, emphatic.

Dinner was mostly eaten in silence after that.

* * *

Nezumi went off to take a shower as soon as they were done and the dishes were cleaned. Kanda then proceeded to sit on the floor against the wall, claiming that he was tired and had to get his rest for the next morning. With the two white-haired boys as alone as they'd get, Allen offered to show Shion his Parasitic left arm, knowing how eager the other was to see it.

"Yes, yes," Shion ran to the bed he and Nezumi shared and patted it excitedly. "Over here, Allen."

Allen went over to the bed and sat down where Shion indicated. Without further warning, the smaller of the two moved to stand directly in front of him and started undoing the buttons of Allen's uniform, pushing the dark material down his shoulders when he was done. Allen observed the other curiously as he took each of his hands and carefully removed his white gloves, letting them rest on the bed next to the black and white jacket. Allen couldn't help but notice how warm Shion's fingers were as they skidded over his pale skin.

"Sugoi," Allen heard Shion say, getting his attention back. "The skin of your left arm is jet black! And these…" the boy whispered, almost to himself, as he trailed his fingers down Allen's arm, "The skin here is almost scale-like."

"And there's more," Allen said, raising his right arm and holding Shion's shoulder to keep him in place while he extended his other arm to the side. "Innocence, activate!"

Shion watched in utter amazement as a white-hooded cowl with a masquerade mask attached to it and a fuzzy white sleeve of Innocence energy was formed over Allen's shoulders, covering his previously bare shoulders and right arm. His left hand grew slender, and razor sharp claws extended from his black nails, with arrow-shaped markings forming along his shoulder blade. His hair also changed, growing out from its parted flat style and into a spiky rear.

Entranced, Shion inched closer to Allen, who was still sitting on the bed, and smoothed his hand down his mutated arm, feeling the texture under it. The young exorcist merely observed the other, curious about the pink scar under his eye and around his neck. There was no way it could be a curse, too, right? But Allen couldn't think of anything that would leave such a scar on a person.

"Hey, Shion… How did this happen?" he asked, lifting a finger and lightly touching the pink mark under the boy's eye.

"I was infected by the parasitic bee," Shion replied, looking up at him. "Nezumi saved me, but I was left with this," he touched his neck, "And the eyes and hair."

"Ehh?" Allen said a bit too loudly, then glanced Kanda's way to make sure the other was still asleep. He relaxed when he saw his eyes were closed, the looked back at Shion. "But the only ones who survive Akuma infections are exorcists with parasitic Innocence, like me!"

Shion shrugged, "Well, I have no Innocence."

Allen wasn't quite satisfied with it left at that, but decided it was not the time. "So where does it end?" he asked casually, tracing the line on the other's face and neck.

"Ah, um," Shion blushed, almost triggering Allen's own blush. Did he just ask something inappropriate? "It goes all around my body."

"Really? Can you show it to me?" Allen asked.

"I guess that's only fair," Shion nodded, then started unbuttoning his turquoise sweater. After that was off, he did the same with his white collared shirt, blushing again when Allen pushed it open with his right hand. Allen scooted closer to the edge of the bed, eye-level with Shion's chest, and let his transformed arm morph back into his regular one. The other watched with slight disappointment as his claws retreated into regular black finger nails and the white hood disappeared, but felt better about it again when Allen touched the scarred line on his abdomen with both hands. His fingers were feather light as they skimmed over the thick pink line, from its place on just under the side of his ribcage down to his abdomen and over his navel…

"Allen!" Shion gasped, heat rising to his cheeks again. "That's…I… I'm… It's kind of s-sensitive… there…"

"What, here?" the exorcist inquired, retracing the path the pink scar line made. Shion nodded, embarrassed. "It's kind of…" Allen trailed off.

"Kind of what?"

"…Alluring," Allen hesitated, then mumbled, "Sexy."

Shion's knees buckled as the other's fingers curved over the line where it met his hipbone, and he reached out, grabbing Allen's shoulders to keep his balance. "Nezumi said that, too," he breathed.

"Yeah?" Allen said, looking up at the boy who now hovered directly above him, white hair curtaining his face from all sides. Shion nodded, and Allen raised his hands to trace his scar where it ran up on his back over his shoulder blades. "I've been meaning to ask you this, actually… What's your relationship with Nezumi?"

"He's my most important person," Shion answered with no hesitation, but with a shaky voice.

"I think you're his most important person, too," Allen said.

"I know he cares about me," Shion allowed, "But I don't think our feelings are exactly the same."

"I think they are," Allen disagreed. "I saw the way he looks at you. And he came right to your rescue when he saw Kanda bullying you."

"Nezumi's always saving me," the shorter boy said, smiling softly. His knees buckled again when he felt Allen's fingernails raking his back softly, and he folded his legs on the bed, straddling the exorcist's lap and sitting on his knees. He looked up to see if the close proximity made the other uncomfortable, but Allen just smiled at him.

Shion gently pushed away his white bangs away from his forehead, exposing more of the reddish star just over his eyebrow. "Is this a tattoo?" he asked, tracing a finger over the design.

"No… it's a curse," Allen told him. First Shion look startled, then worried. "It allows me to see the trapped human souls of Akuma."

"Who gave you the curse?" Shion asked, frowning. He hated the idea of watching human souls suffering within the demons. He felt terribly sorry for Allen.

"My father," he said. Shion opened his mouth, seemingly to ask something else, but Allen pressed a finger to his lips to stop him. "It's a long story. You don't need to be burdened with it."

"But I want to help," Shion protested. "Even if it's just to have you get it off your chest." Allen shook his head, and Shion saw he was about to deny him again, so he cupped the other's cheeks gently and said, "Go ahead, Allen. Please. You won't burden me, I swear."

And so Allen told Shion all about how the Millennium Earl took advantage of those who were in grief over their loved ones' deaths by offering to resurrect them and creating Akuma out of them. He told him how he'd been abandoned as a child because of his "deformed" arm, and how Mana had adopted him and taken care of him. He told him that he'd been visited by the Earl when Mana had died, and that he had accepted the offer, only to be sliced and cursed by him when he'd come to as an Akuma.

By the time he was done, Allen was shaking, suppressing the tears that threatened to spill over. And then Shion was suddenly _there_, hugging him and smoothing his back, whispering words he couldn't quite make out. When Allen lifted his face, Shion kissed him full on the lips. Allen was startled at first, opening his eyes wide into the kiss and seeing Shion had his closed. It was only a closed-mouth kiss, but Shion didn't pull away after a second, just kept their lips pressed together, as if to hush the exorcist.

Allen's eyes slowly drifted shut, and, wrapping his arms around Shion's waist, he parted his lips under his. Feeling himself get dragged up Allen's thighs, Shion gasped into the kiss, and almost immediately felt the heat of Allen's tongue inside his mouth. With both being unexperienced, the kiss was sloppy and wet, but it wasn't awkward, and they were both moaning and panting by the time they broke away.

"Hah," Shion panted, sagging against Allen, who was also trying to catch his breath. He felt the smaller boy's hot breath on his bare chest, and noticed how his skin was hot, too. He shifted his hold to Shion's hips and ran the tip of his nose down the skin of his neck.

"A-Allen," Shion covered his mouth to stifle a moan, and arched his back when he felt the hot tip of the exorcist's tongue lick at the shell of his ear. "Nn, _Allen!"_

At the sound of Shion's loud moan, both white-haired boys turned to check if they'd disturbed Kanda's sleep.

Only to find the Japanese exorcist staring at them, Nezumi standing right beside him, gripping at the towel hanging low on his hips.

"K-Kanda─" Allen stuttered.

"N-Nezumi─" Shion gasped at the same time.

Both of them blushed furiously, and between that and the flush of arousal already coloring their faces, looked like ripe tomatoes.

"What are you doing?" Kanda asked, in a tone nothing like his usual angry tone.

"That was _definitively_ not a goodnight kiss," Nezumi stated, bracing himself against the wall at his back.

"Kanda, Nezumi… How long have you two been watching?"

* * *

**A/N: Japanese phrases you most likely already know, but just to be sure:**

_**Baka - **_stupid

_**Moyashi -**_ bean sprout

_**Oyaji - **_old man

**Matte kudasai -** please wait

_**Yosh - **_enthusiastic affirmative

_**Sugoi -**_ amazing


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: No.6 and -man aren't mine, but that doesn't stop me.**

**Rating: T for language and BL.**

**A/N: Thank you for all the feedback! I never expected to get any readers, so you can guess how happy I was to get 10 reviews.**

**In response to the messages, I'll try to keep the characters as in-character as I can, so please point out what you think is OOC so I can work on it. Also, it's not beyond me to get things wrong (such as the Lost Town reference. Thanks Kini-Ainotsuki~), so I'd appreciate it if you warned me of whatever mistakes you might come across, may they be of spelling/grammar or concept wise.**

**Regarding the setting, I'm not entirely sure whether No. 6 is in Japan, since the anime is really vague regarding that, but if it isn't, I'm claiming artistic license and making it into such. Also, Allen is English, but speaks Japanese, and vice-versa with the other characters. I'm not sure how evident this is, but Shion speaks English with Allen, and Kanda and Nezumi are speaking Japanese.**

**Sorry for the long note!**

* * *

"We've been watching for long enough," Kanda replied gruffly. "What's with this, Allen?"

Kanda had just used the younger exorcist's real name. That's when one knew things were serious.

Nezumi, for his part, also went straight to questioning Shion about the make-out session he'd just witnessed between the two boys.

"Imagine my surprise, coming out of the bath to see the two airheads sucking face. And to think you were such a prude when that prostitute kissed you back in your first days here," Nezumi said, to Shion's embarrassment.

"Allen and I weren't _sucking face_," Shion protested. "He was crying, and I wanted to comfort him─"

"By kissing his brains out?" Nezumi laughed bitterly. "You really need to learn other methods, Your Majesty."

"It's not like I have to explain myself to you," Allen was discussing with Kanda. "What's it to you, who I kiss?"

"It's not what we're here for!" Kanda exclaimed. "We're leaving right now."

"No, we're staying right here!" the other shouted back, calling Shion and Nezumi's attention.

"We're leaving!" the Japanese exorcist insisted. "Now come before I drag your ass out of this rathole."

"No, Kanda-san, wait! It's my fault, not Allen's! Please don't leave," Shion said, moving closer to the duo before Nezumi grabbed his wrist.

Shion turned to look at him, and Nezumi merely grunted, "Let them go, Shion."

"How can you say that?" Shion asked, yanking his arm free and stepping beside Allen. "I'm not letting you go."

"It's not like you can stop us," Kanda said, eliciting a growl from Allen when he stepped closer to the boy with his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Don't you dare threaten him, Kanda," Allen spat at his fellow exorcist. "I won't let you."

"Get out of my house," Nezumi growled, stepping around the white-haired boys to glare at Kanda. He didn't look directly at Allen, but the young exorcist felt like the order was directed at him, too.

"Stop it!" Shion shouted, surprising everyone, who turned to look at the pink-faced boy. "Quit all the arguing, alright? This is how it's going to work: Kanda-san, you and Allen aren't going anywhere. You'll spend the night here and tomorrow morning we'll go closer to the city to see if you can spot any of the Akuma you're after. Nezumi, they'll be staying here with us, and I don't want to hear any complaining. Allen, you can take my spot on the bed next to Nezumi."

Shion's little rant triggered yelled protests from everyone else.

"There's no way I'm sharing a bed with the strange oyaji-haired kid you were just making out with!" Nezumi said.

"I couldn't possibly take your place in the bed, Shion!" Allen said.

"Who'd want to sleep with the sewer rat?" Kanda said.

"I've already decided," Shion insisted, crossing his arms. "Now excuse me while I go take a bath."

With that, Shion headed to the bathroom, leaving the three men in the room by themselves. Although that would've given them the opportunity to ignore Shion's orders and just do whatever they felt like, they didn't. Kanda sat back on the ground with a long sigh, Allen sat on the edge of the bed he and Shion had been on, and Nezumi went to get dressed.

"Did you get those scars from the Akuma bees, too?" Allen asked, eyeing the scars on Nezumi's back when he turned around.

"No. 6 gave me these," Nezumi replied without turning to face the boy.

"Where did you find that kid?" Kanda asked him from across the room.

Nezumi threw him a glare from over his shoulder, but replied anyway. "He saved me 4 years ago, and I'm just paying my debt."

"Is that really all you're doing?" Allen asked. Nezumi ignored him and got dressed.

* * *

When Shion came out of the shower, he arrived back in the room to see Kanda apparently snoozing against the wall, Nezumi laying on the bed facing the wall, and Allen laying beside him, turned towards Shion but with his eyes closed.

Shion tiptoed across the room in an effort not to wake anyone up, but the drawer where he kept his clothes in creaked when he pulled it open. Allen immediately snapped his eyes open and sat up on the bed. "You can have the bed!"

"Oh, I'm sorry I woke you," Shion apologized. "It's okay, you keep it. You need your rest more than I do."

Allen waited until was dressed before he grabbed the boy - who was on the process of laying down on the red couch next to the bed - and pulled him down on the mattress next to him.

"So we'll just share it," Allen announced.

"I don't think Nezumi will like that," Shion said, noting on how the single bed was a tight fit for the three of them.

"He's already asleep, he won't even notice," the exorcist said. "Besides, we can take up the space of only one person."

"That's impossible!" Shion laughed. "Two entities of matter cannot occupy the same space at the same time!"

"I'll show you," Allen said, and reached an arm over the other boy, splaying his hand across the small of his back and dragging him closer until he was pressed flush against the exorcist. "See?"

"We're not exactly occupying the space of only person, but I see wha─ aah!" Shion's sentence was cut off when Allen flipped him over so he was laying directly on top of the slightly taller boy.

"Now?"

"Now's as close as it can get, I guess," Shion said. The was a moment of silence before both boys broke out in laughter.

They tried to stifle their laughter until it died down, and Shion lazily rolled off Allen to lie next to him. He pulled the sheets over their bodies, their legs tangling in the process.

"Good night, Shion," Allen said.

"Oyasumi, Allen," Shion yawned.

* * *

"Oy, omae."

Allen opened his eyes to see Kanda towering over the bed he was sleeping in. "Nn?"

"Get out of bed. And wake the other moyashi. We have work to do," he said.

"In the middle of the night?" Allen rolled over and buried his face on the crook of Shion's neck. The boy was still sleeping, and his warmth, along the steady rise and fall of his chest, was very calming.

"It's morning already, but this goddamn place has no windows," Kanda explained.

"You sure it's not night still?" Allen mumbled, wanting Kanda to leave him alone so he could fall back asleep.

"I checked. Now move your ass. I don't have the whole day, you good-for-nothing exorcist."

"Chikusho, what's with all this talking?" Nezumi complained from his place on the bed. "You, be quiet. I'm trying to sleep here."

"Sorry, Nezumi," Allen said. "Kanda's just being his usual annoying self."

"Che," Kanda bit out angrily, and grabbed Shion's shoulder, shaking it violently. "Moyashi. Wake up."

Shion cracked his eyes open and looked up at Kanda. When he saw the long dark hair and scowling face through his sleep glazed eyes, he smiled and wrapped both arms around Kanda's neck. "Eve…" he mumbled happily, pulling Kanda down to his level.

"O-oy! Let go!" the exorcist was blushing furiously, but did his best to hide it. "What the hell?"

Allen and Nezumi both sat up on the bed quickly, yelling "Shion!" in unison. That woke the white-haired boy enough for him to notice that the man he was currently nuzzling against was not Nezumi's stage persona.

"Kanda-san!" he gasped in recognition, letting go of the exorcist, who immediately jumped away from Shion. "I'm sorry!"

Kanda turned away from the bed, so no one could see his expression when he said, "Just get out of bed already. You have to take us to the possible Akuma source."

"Who do you think you are, throwing orders like that?" Nezumi snapped at Kanda, pushing past Allen and Shion to get out of bed.

"The one who's doing you a favor, that's who I am," was Kanda's snarky reply.

"…Not again," Shion sighed. "Guys…"

"Favor? What favor? You and the white-haired gaki over there come strolling in, thinking you own the place, and for what? To run after some so-called demon bees, swinging some old sword around. Tch, please. You're doing me no favor," Nezumi said.

"Let's see if you still think that when you're infected by that Akuma bee, you damn sewer rat!" Kanda glared at the other man.

"Pfft, as if I'm stupid enough to let myself be bitten by those bees," Nezumi said, tying his hair up.

"Your moyashi was, wasn't he?" Kanda retorted.

"Because he's an airhead," Nezumi said.

"How do you know that, Kanda?" Allen asked, but his voice was lost in the two's loud bickering. That or he was ignored by them.

"And you're a brainless idiot that lets himself get kissed by that," Kanda replied.

"You damn..!" Nezumi lost his temper, taking out the knife he'd slept with the previous night. He'd usually leave it on the table when it was only Shion and him, but there was no way he'd sleep unarmed with two strangers around. Kanda, too, had slept holding the sheath of Mugen, and he drew his blade the same time as Nezumi.

"Alright, _enough!"_

Everyone turned to look at the boy standing beside the bed. Shion's face had turned red, his hands were closed in tight fists, and he looked like he was about to either scream or cry. Possibly both. Allen felt sorry for his friend, but thought it was actually kind of funny…

There was a strangled cough from Nezumi, and stunned silence from Kanda. Both were trying to hold on to their anger towards each other, but…

"Hey… It actually worked."

It's unclear who started laughing first, but Shion's happy expression quickly dissolved as all three guys broke into uncontrolled laughter. Realizing how the smaller boy had gone into a sulk, Allen forced back his own laughs to comfort Shion. The other two were still laughing by the time they left to No. 6.

* * *

It was a long walk to the walls of the Holy City, and when they arrived, the sight was discouraging.

"What's with this skyscraper of a wall?" Kanda grunted, looking up at the impossibly high walls that separated the West District from the city of No. 6.

"I wish Lavi or Lenalee were here," Allen sighed.

"What, isn't flying or jumping high among your super demon-killing powers?" Nezumi mocked.

"Innocence, activate!" Allen recited, and his appearance shifted with the invocation of the Crown Clown.

"What the..?" Nezumi jumped back, never having seen the boy take the form of his Innocence before. He stared, dumbfounded, at the completely transformed Allen as he stretched his long black claws.

"Clown Belt!" Allen called, and the cape of his cowl released into a web of Innocence energy that stretched upwards until it grasped the top edge of the wall. "I think I can make it," he announced, then looked at Shion and Nezumi. "Thanks for your help. We'll take it from here."

"I want to go with you," Shion immediately said.

Allen frowned. "Shion…"

"I'm going," the white-haired boy stated.

"There's really no need for you to get involved─" Allen started, before the other cut him off.

"Allen," Shion said, stepping closer to the exorcist and touching the side of his neck.

The action sent a jolt through both Nezumi and Allen. The former, because it reminded him of how Shion had once done something similar to him, and the latter…

"I want to see. I have to make sure that… what you're going to do… will get rid of the bees. It's very important to me," Shion continued.

"Just take him already," Kanda said, breaking the brief silence that ensued. "Not our business if he wants to risk his life."

"I won't be risking my life," Shion protested. "I lived on the other side of this wall my entire life, you know."

"Okay," Allen hesitantly agreed. "Hold onto me."

Shion wrapped both arms around the exorcist's torso, and Allen held him with the arm of his Innocence, careful not to hurt him with his razor-sharp claws. He extended his free hand towards Kanda, who resentfully took it.

"If you're taking the airhead, you're taking me, too," Nezumi said.

Not in the mood to argue anymore, Allen said, "Take his hand, Kanda." Both dark-haired men started to protest when the exorcist shouted, "Shut up and grab him!"

Looking away from each other, Kanda and Nezumi clasped their hands tightly together. With them being almost the exact same size, it was kind of awkward.

Allen closed his eyes and took a deep breath, preparing himself to pull them up. Observing him with concern, Shion said, "Wouldn't it be better if you took two trips?"

"It's okay," Allen said, smiling reassuringly at him. "Ready. Set. Go!"

With that, he pushed them up and off the ground, letting the Clown Belt pull them all the way up the tall wall. In one fluid movement, he settled them on the top, all four of them falling on their backs as he released them. Allen tried to catch his breath, feeling like he'd overexerted himself by pulling the four of them up using his Clown Belt. Maybe Shion had been right when he'd suggested he take two trips to bring them up instead of only one. And to think he still had to lower them to the ground…

Seeing how the action had tired his friend, Shion went over to Allen and took his arm in his hands. Holding his hand gently, he rubbed tight circles on his wrist, keeping in line to his pinky bone.

After a minute under Shion's expert hands, Allen felt noticeably relaxed. "What are you doing?" he asked, sitting up facing the other.

"This is the Heart 7 point, the Spirit Gate. By applying the right pressure to it, you stimulate the release of endorphins, which reduce pain, calm an overactive mind, and produce feelings of well-being," Shion told him.

"Aaah, that's really cool," the exorcist said, "And it feels nice."

"I'm glad," Shion smiled and stood up, offering Allen a hand. The exorcist took it and pulled himself up.

"Thank you, Shion," he smiled, still holding the boy's hand in his. Then he turned to Kanda and Nezumi, who were watching them like vultures. "Shall we?"

Begrudgingly, the two stepped closer and resumed their previous positions, letting out the exact same "Che," when they took each others' hand.

As Allen lowered them to the grounds of No. 6, Shion caught Kanda watching him when he looked down. The white-haired boy smiled at the Japanese exorcist, who immediately looked away, with no way to hide his flushed cheeks. And Nezumi stared up at Allen, impressed at the boy's ability, though he'd never admit it.

"Phew~," Allen said as their feet hit the ground and they released the grips they had on each other. "We're here."

However, looking around, they saw no sign of the actual city. There were only trees, and even a few mountains off in the distance. "This must be the North Block," Shion said. "We have to move before we're spotted by the Central Control Committee."

"What's that?" Kanda asked.

"You can't enter the North Block without permission from the Committee," the boy told him.

Reaching into his coat, Nezumi let out one of his robot rats. "He'll take us to the city center," he said, following after the rat Shion had named Hamlet, who'd scurried towards the wild forest in front of them.

"You keep rats in your clothes?" Kanda asked, disgusted at the prospect.

"Don't say that, Kanda-san," Shion protested. "They're robots Nezumi created by himself, and they're very helpful. And they're our friends."

"Ro…bots?" Kanda repeated, frowning.

"Automated machines, not real live rats," he explained.

"Ehhh? Sugoi! You're incredible, Nezumi!" Allen praised.

"Betsuni," Nezumi replied. "It's nothing like what you did with your arm or anything."

It literally took hours of following unpaved roads through undeveloped areas of the city before they reached a fence that announced their arrival to the populated areas. Kanda cut them a path through the metal fence with one easy swing of Mugen, earning a protest from Shion. By the time they reached the city center enough that they could see the Moon Drop towering over the woodland park, the sun was already at its peak in the sky.

"You can't walk around looking like that," Nezumi said, jerking his chin toward the exorcists' uniforms. "You'll stick out like a sore thumb."

"Che. What else can we do?"

"I should've lent you some of my spare clothes," Shion frowned, frustrated at himself for not considering that obvious detail.

"Like your moyashi clothes would fit," Kanda scoffed.

"Mine might not, but Nezumi's would fit you for sure," Shion said, and his mind formed a plan. "Kanda-san, strip."

"What?" all three men asked at the same time.

"Both of you, take off your clothes," he instructed, looking at the dark-haired men. "Nezumi, you give Kanda-san your clothes."

"Do you suggest I stroll around naked, your majesty?" Nezumi smirked. "That eager to see how much I've grown, hm?"

Shion blushed and hit Nezumi's shoulder. "You'll put on his clothes and wait for us here with Allen, while we go to my mother's."

"What for?" Kanda asked.

"To get my clothes for Allen. I'll see if I have something bigger for Kanda, and then you can have your clothes back."

"So why are you going with him instead of me?" Nezumi asked.

"Because that way we'll cover more ground. Besides, they're the ones who hunt Akuma, and I know Allen will know what to do if the bees show up," Shion explained.

Nezumi opened his mouth to ask why he was taking Kanda instead of Allen, then, but knew that the white-haired exorcist's clothes wouldn't fit him like Kanda's would. Besides, he didn't want to spend time with the Japanese exorcist anyway. Not that he did with Allen.

"Fine," Kanda and Nezumi agreed at the same time, then turned to glare at each other.

"Don't let Kanda get under your skin," Allen warned his friend as the taller men walked back into the forest to get changed.

"Same to you with Nezumi," Shion replied, then lowered his voice, just to be sure he wouldn't be heard by the other two, "And please take care of him if you find the bees. He can be a bit stubborn and reckless."

"Leave it to me! Your most important person is in the right hands," Allen smiled.

A little farther off, Kanda and Nezumi both stripped, wearing the same begrudged expression. After they were done, they tossed each other their clothes and proceeded to put them on. Although Kanda was slightly taller than Nezumi, their clothes fit on the other just as snuggly as they had on their true owner.

"Put your hair down," Nezumi ordered Kanda.

"Why should I?" the exorcist narrowed his eyes at him.

"Because it looks weird."

Offended at the comment, Kanda glared at Nezumi. "Your hair is up, too."

"Yeah, but mine's much shorter than your girly hair. Paired with that girly face of yours, people will mistake you for a girl."

"Who has a girly face?" Now the exorcist was angry. He already had to put up with Allen saying that, and now this sewer rat?

"Just admit it already. And I never said it's a bad thing. You could work at my theater. We could use another actor to play female roles," Nezumi said, adjusting the coat of the uniform over his shoulders.

"How does that moyashi put up with you?" Kanda grumbled, pulling his hair down anyways. He felt restricted somewhat, but he guessed that'd be better than calling attention to himself with his samurai-styled hair. Not that having it down would be much better…

"I could say the same about your airhead. I wonder how anyone could get along with you," Nezumi replied.

"Who said we get along?" the other bit back. "We're nothing like you and that other guy."

"Don't say it like you know what we're like," Nezumi said.

"Hmph. He said you're his most important person, and he did mention kissing."

"He said that?" Nezumi asked, turning completely to make full eye contact with Kanda. The exorcist nodded. "When?"

"Saa."

"Che," Nezumi snorted, irritated. Just when Kanda was about to leave, he called, "Oy." The exorcist stopped, but didn't spin around to face him. "You'd better protect the airhead."

With that, Nezumi walked past Kanda and back to where Allen and Shion waited for them. Kanda cursed the gods that had gotten him into such a predicament and followed after.

To Shion, seeing Kanda with his hair down was like seeing Nezumi as Eve. Even without all the makeup to make him look more feminine, the exorcist looked the part. Even more so with Nezumi's scowl darkening his features.

"Ready to go, Kanda-san?" Shion asked, trying not to stare too much at the exorcist or Nezumi, who looked surprisingly good in the black and white uniform.

Without a word, Kanda followed Shion away from the group and towards the center of the city, leaving a grumpy Nezumi and worried Allen behind.

* * *

"Quit staring, baka moyashi."

"Sumimasen," Shion scratched the back of his head with a smile. "It's just that I can't help but think how beautiful your hair is, Kanda-san."

Kanda just grunted and continued walking. Between his long dark hair and Shion's stark white one, the people they passed always turned to look at them. They received unusual looks of people who mistook the exorcist for a girl and observed how much taller than the boy he - or she - was. Kanda's fingers twitched as he held back the urge to draw out Mugen, which was safely hidden from view inside his borrowed trousers, at some of the looks they received.

"I really want to feel it."

"What?"

"Your hair. It looks so soft."

"As if I'd let a moyashi like you touch it," Kanda snorted.

"What's with that name?" Shion frowned. "My name is Shion."

"So?"

"So why don't you call me that?"

"I'll do whatever I want," the exorcist said. "How much farther?"

"We're not even in Lost Town yet," Shion said. "So quite a bit."

Silence settled over them after that.

* * *

"Is this really okay?" Allen asked, looking down at the city if No. 6 and wondering how the others were doing.

"Yeah, they don't need us to babysit them," Nezumi said, lying down with his eyes closed under the shade of a big tree, his crossed arms supporting his head.

"Don't be so cold, Nezumi," the exorcist said, sitting down beside him. "I know how you feel about Shion."

Nezumi's eyes shot open to stare up at Allen. "What nonsense are you spouting?"

"You like him."

"Betsuni."

"So why would you kiss him?"

"It means nothing."

"A kiss means you like someone," Allen said.

"No, it means you want to kiss," Nezumi disagreed.

"No, it─" Allen's sentence was cut off by Nezumi's lips pressed to his.

* * *

"Why do we have to go all the way to your house?" Kanda asked. "Can't you just buy some new clothes?"

"Not without my identification bracelet," Shion replied.

"Why don't you have it?"

"I had to get rid of it when I ran from the city. It had a tracker on it." Before Kanda could ask, he said, "They were accusing me of a crime I didn't commit."

"Hm."

"So, Kanda-san, why is it that you and Allen bicker so often?" Shion asked, trying to divert the topic from himself. That and he found the exorcists' relationship interesting.

"Che, because he's a stupid moyashi, of course."

"And what does that mean?"

"He irritates me. What's it to you?"

"Just curious." He smiled, thinking of his friend. "I like Allen. He's nice."

Kanda gave him a weird look.

* * *

"Nezumi!"

"Just making a point," Nezumi said, kissing Allen again, longer this time. The exorcist frowned and pulled back.

"What point?"

"You don't have to have feelings for someone to kiss them. You just have to want it," Nezumi explained. "You should know that, too."

"Me? Why?"

"You kissed Shion, didn't you?" he said, then frowned. "Or are you going to tell me that you have _feelings_ for the airhead?"

"I do. I like him. And kissing him felt good."

"Wait. Do you like him, or do you _like_ him?"

"Ahhh, I don't understand," Allen said.

"Do you want to kiss him like this…" Nezumi leaned in again and crushed his lips against Allen's. The boy gasped in surprise and Nezumi took the opportunity to thrust his tongue inside the other's mouth. Their kiss deepened and their tongues slid past each other, sending tingles through Allen. Nezumi was more skilled than Shion, and it was obvious that he knew what he was doing. It felt good, and when Nezumi pulled back, the exorcist almost voiced his protest.

"…Or like this?" Nezumi continued, leaning in for another kiss. Allen immediately parted his lips, offering the other easy access to deepen the kiss, but Nezumi shut his mouth by pushing his chin up gently with two fingers. He merely pressed his lips to Allen's, one of his hands tangling in his white hair while the other caressed the side of his neck. It felt good, too, but not nearly enough. It was kind of awkward, having the harsh Nezumi treat him like he were a fragile doll.

When Nezumi pulled away, Allen immediately said, "The first."

"See? You pick lust over love, like most people. Me, too."

"But was your and Shion's kiss like this first one?" Allen asked.

"Yeah," Nezumi lied.

* * *

Karan looked positively dejected when Shion and Kanda entered her bakery. When she looked up and saw who her customers were, she let out a little surprised squeal, her hands flying to her mouth.

"Kaa-san," Shion grinned, embracing his mother when she ran into him.

"Shion!" she cried, burying her face in his shirt. "I can't believe it!"

Shion pushed his mother away to look at her face. "How have you been?"

"I missed you so much, Shion! I was so scared! What happened to your hair?"

"It's a long story." He kissed her forehead, truly happy he got to see her after so long. All the little letters just weren't enough. Too bad he wouldn't be able to stay…

"Is this Nezumi-san?" Karan asked, looking past Shion at an uncomfortable Kanda.

"No, this is another friend, Kanda Yuu. Kaa-san, look at me. I can't stay for long. We just came by to grab some clothes, then we have to go."

"What? No!" she cried, grabbing Shion shirt tightly. "I saw them take Safu today, Shion. I can't let you go now."

"Sa…fu? What happened to Safu?" Shion asked worriedly.

Karan shook her head, realizing she'd said too much.

Shion shook his mom lightly, "Okaa-san! Where's Safu?"

"The Security Bureau took her. To the Correctional Facility, I think," she said.

"Why? Why did they take her, Kaa-san?"

"I don't know, Shion! They just shoved her into a car!"

Kanda, who had been awkwardly standing close to the door, spoke for the first time, seeing how flustered Shion was, "Who's this Safu?"

"Shion's good friend of many years," Karan replied when the white-haired boy didn't.

"I have to save her," Shion stated with an unsettling calm.

"You can't!" his mother cried, shaking her head desperately. "Not in the Correctional Facility. No one ever leaves that place."

"I have no choice," he said in that same tone.

"What have I done..?" Karan covered his mouth with her hands, tears streaming down her face as her son pulled away and climbed up the stairs to get what they'd come for.

"You have to stop him, Kanda Yuu-kun," she pleaded, giving the exorcist such a helpless look that he simply couldn't refuse. Something about seeing Karan - who looked so much like Shion - cry for her son and look so desperate tugged at Kanda's heart strings, no matter how much he tried to ignore it.

He found Shion in one of the upstairs rooms, grabbing different clothes from his drawer and carelessly throwing them on the bed behind him. "Would you try these on, please? I want to make sure they fit."

"Oy, moyashi─"

"The clothes are on the bed," Shion's voice was perfectly even as he continued to dig through his neatly folded clothes, disarranging them completely. He didn't seem to care.

"About your friend, you should listen to what your mother says and not do anything rash," Kanda said, ignoring the other's request.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean. Now would you hurry up, please?"

"There's nothing you can do about your friend now."

"Would you please try on the clothes?"

"If she really cares about you, she wouldn't want you to risk yourself for her sake."

"Put on the clothes, Kanda."

"Besides, we have more pressing matters at hand than wasting precious time to rescue some girl. You should just forget it and─"

_"__I told you to put on the fucking clothes!" _Shion yelled, spinning around and facing Kanda. The exorcist seemed unfazed by the usually gentle boy's outburst, and opened his mouth to speak again.

When he did, Shion shoved him hard enough to send him toppling down onto the bed, bouncing slightly as his back hit the mattress. Before he could get up - or react in any way, for that matter - Shion mounted him, straddling his hips and pinning him down on the bed by holding his wrists above his head. Kanda could have easily thrown the much smaller boy off, but didn't, for some reason. The younger boy yanked down the zipper of Kanda's borrowed jacket and pushed it open with one hand, still pinning the exorcist's wrists above his head with the other one.

In the position they were in, there was no way Shion could further remove Kanda's clothes. Noticing that, the white-haired boy yelled in frustration and frantically yanked at the yellow shirt Kanda was wearing. All he managed to do with that was rip a little of the collar before he tiredly sagged down against the man beneath him. Kanda, who had passively stayed still during the other's outbreak, pulled his hands free from Shion's now loose grip and softly raked his fingers through the boy's white hair. Shion lifted his head to look at the exorcist, tear streaks marking his pale face.

He looked so soft, so pure, and so desolate at that moment that Kanda couldn't help but want to comfort him.

Closing the distance between them, the exorcist pressed his lips against Shion's parted ones, mentally urging the boy to respond to his kiss. After a moment that, for Kanda, seemed to last an eternity, Shion started moving his lips against his. The dark-haired man pushed up, supporting their weight on one of his forearms, smoothing his hand up and down Shion's back with his free one. The boy took the opportunity to feel Kanda's hair then, fisting the long strands in his hand and reveling in the soft texture of it against his skin. Shion snaked his other hand between them, feeling the contours of Kanda's chest and biceps, which strained and stood out with the effort of keeping them up, through the fabric of his shirt.

Kanda broke free of the kiss, letting his head fall back and trying not to make any sounds that'd give away how good Shion's hands against him felt. The action made the hand that Shion had in his hair pull on the strands, eliciting a groan from the exorcist.

"Gomen…" the white-haired boy mumbled, letting go of his hair and sitting back on the bed. He sighed and wiped at the tears staining his face, sniffing and forcing back his feelings.

"Gomenasai," he repeated, pushing away from the bed and standing up. Kanda lifted his head to stare up at Shion, who now had a full-blown smile across his lips.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you everyone for reviewing last chapter! I hope to hear more from you this time around!**

**Japanese phrases (not including the basic ones from last chapter):**

_**Oyasumi -**_ good night

_**Oy, omae -**_ rude way of saying "hey, you"

_**Chikusho -**_ damn it

_**Gaki -**_ brat

_**Betsuni -**_ not particularly

_**Saa -**_ who knows

_**Sumimasen -**_ excuse me/sorry

_**Kaa-san -**_ mother

_**Gomen/gomenasai -**_ forgive me


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Don't own No.6 or DGM, so don't sue me.

**Rating:** T for language and BL.

**Hmm… I have to keep myself in check. I may or may not be threading awfully close to the world of M with this chapter :| And the fact that that was not my initial intention at all scares me a little.**

**Some of the lines from this chapter were shamelessly taken from the No. 6 manga. The timing is all wrong, but I thought they fit nicely.**

* * *

"Gomen ne, Kanda-san!" Shion laughed with that self-depreciating smile still on his face. "Sorry I forced myself on you. Shall we get going now? We wouldn't want to worry Allen and Nezumi."

"You…" Kanda started, unsure of what to say, but knowing he had to say something nonetheless.

"Please get dressed. I'll be waiting downstairs with my mother." And with a last unwavering smile, the white-haired boy left the room, closing the door behind him.

Left with no other choice, Kanda put on the clothes Shion had left for him. The white shirt was more than a size too small, and the pants short and a little tight around the hips, but Kanda wasn't about to complain. Taking Mugen and the Nezumi's clothes, and the ones Shion had set aside for Allen under an arm, the exorcist went back downstairs to join Shion and Karan.

The woman was hugging her son when Kanda arrived, with him smoothing a comforting hand down her trembling back.

"Shion, you can't do this," Karan begged.

"It's only right, kaa-san," he replied. "I can't leave Safu."

"But─"

"Look, Kanda-san's here. We have to go now," Shion said, pulling away from his mother and moving towards the door. "Ittekimasu!"

"I-Itterasshai," Karan replied, wiping at her tears and giving him a smile. It reminded Kanda of the the boy's own smile a few minutes ago. The last thing exorcist saw upon leaving with Shion was the woman's meaningful gaze directed at him: it seemed to say, _please protect him, no matter what._

* * *

"What's taking that airhead so long?" Nezumi complained from his spot under the shade of a tree.

"Be patient, Nezumi," Allen told him, then grinned devilishly, "You really worry about Shion, don't you?"

"Che, I just hate waiting around doing nothing, that's all. Don't go reading so much into it, damn airhead."

"Well, you're the one who insisted in coming. And that was just so you could keep an eye on Shion, wasn't it? Nezumi is so kind!" Allen laughed.

"Shut up," Nezumi grumbled. Allen's words brought back something Kanda had said some time ago, and Nezumi couldn't help but want to know more. "Oy…"

"Hm?" Allen turned to lie on his side, facing Nezumi.

"Did Shion… say something to you about me?" he asked.

"What kind of something?" the exorcist asked.

"So he did something. What did he tell you?"

"Who knows?" Allen teased.

"Just spit it out already!" Nezumi growled, sitting up.

"He might have said that Nezumi is his most─" Allen's speech was cut off when, with a loud noise that pierced through the carefree atmosphere, the innocence in his eye activated, his iris growing into red circles. He jumped up, snapping his head to their right. "Akuma!"

Nezumi stood up, too, pulling out his knife, no matter how useless he knew it'd be against demon insects. "How'd you know?"

"My Innocence can sense it," Allen said, breaking into a run. "This way!"

"What's with all this talk about innocence?" Nezumi muttered out loud, running after the white-haired boy.

Allen came to an abrupt halt as a Level 1 Akuma appeared in his path. Nezumi almost had a stroke when he saw the floating ball-shaped creature with several gun barrels sticking out of it. One said gun barrel twisted his way, and before Nezumi could do anything about it, the demon was firing his way.

Jumping in front of the taller boy, Allen cut through the large bullets with his activated arm, then slashed the Akuma down the middle, cutting through its distorted, mask-like face, effectively killing it and freeing its trapped human soul with one blow.

"W-what was that?" Nezumi asked after a moment, still rather shaken. He'd never seen anything like that, and the fact that there were monsters like those hanging around without his knowledge disturbed him greatly.

"That was a Level 1 Akuma," Allen said, turning to face him with a kind smile. "It's not really that strong, seeing its the lowest of the 4 Akuma ranks. Don't really think we'll find any Level 4s here, though. At least I hope not."

"How come I never saw this before?" the other questioned.

"I don't know," the exorcist shrugged. "It probably proves our theory that whatever's happening here has something to do with Innocence, though. Akuma are attracted to it. Maybe it's not that the Akuma are the bees themselves, but that its the Innocence creating the bees and attracting them."

Nezumi frowned. He liked it better when he didn't have a visual for what the exorcists hunted. But at least now he was completely sure that they weren't some made-up story by two lunatics.

"Are there any more around?" he asked warily.

"Not right now. My eye activates at the presence of Akuma, so we'll know beforehand."

"Will that guy… you know..?"

"What?"

"Can the girly-faced idiot take care of them, too?"

Allen laughed. "Now you're really worried about Shion, aren't you?"

"Answer the question, idiot," Nezumi grumbled.

"Yes, of course! Although Kanda acts like that, he's really a great exorcist. Much better at it than I am," Allen said.

Nezumi sighed, relieved, though he'd never admit it.

It was then that Shion's voice made itself heard. "Nezumi! Allen!" his voice called, and he ran into view, Kanda walking behind him. "There you are!"

Shion ran up to them, and instead of slowing down and stopping, ran right into Nezumi, who had his arms around the boy in the same instant. Nezumi thought he heard the other mumble something into his shirt, but when he asked, Shion simply pulled back with a smile.

"Nothing," he said. "Sorry about that. Here, we got clothes for you."

Kanda handed Allen the shirt and pants Shion had picked out for him, and snorted when he gave Nezumi his back.

"Did you see your mother?" Nezumi asked Shion.

"Yes, and she was really happy. Thought Kanda-san was you, can you believe it?" he chuckled.

The dark haired exorcist shot him a look, frowning at his fail to mention the kidnapping of his friend.

"Hmph," Nezumi grunted.

"We found an Akuma," Allen told them. "It was only a Level 1, but that proves that we were right about this having something to do with Innocence."

"Did the bee look like what you hunt?" Shion asked.

"Bee?" Nezumi scoffed. "That was no bee. It looked more like some kind of machine with a mask as a face and a dozen guns as arms."

"But I thought you said the bees were the Akuma?" Shion said.

"Maybe they transformed from bees to Akuma?" Kanda suggested.

"Hmm… That could be it," Allen said, thinking it made more sense than his previous theory. After all, from what the boys had said, the bees had the exact same effect on humans as the Akuma did. "Could it be a new Level of Akuma?"

"Possibly," Kanda said. "What Level was the one you killed? How many were there?"

"Just one Level 1," the white-haired boy said.

"Well, now that you have clothes, we can go looking around No.6," Shion said. "Although we have to be careful if we're going down the the city center since we don't have ID bracelets."

As soon as Nezumi and Shion moved a few steps away to get dressed, Shion turned to Kanda and looked up at him somberly. "You didn't say anything about that girl," the exorcist accused.

"'Im not going to. You're not either," the boy stated.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to involve Nezumi. I rely too much on him already, and I don't want him to risk himself for my sake… Not that he'd do it anyways," he laughed softly. "I just don't want him to worry."

"Don't you think that you're doing just that by not saying anything?" Kanda asked, not sure why he even bothered to involve himself further in the boy's stupid idea of heroism.

"He can't worry about something he doesn't know, ne?"

They were quiet until the other two came back and they left towards the city.

* * *

Unfortunately, they were unable to find much in the city. Everything seemed normal, and Allen's eye showed no sign of activating. In the end, all the work they'd gone through was for nothing. After receiving several strange looks from people in the city who wondered about their resemblances, they decided it was best if they just returned to the West District before it got dark.

Shion, who'd started off by being his usual, happy self, grew quieter as the day progressed, hardly speaking a word by the time they were back at Nezumi's underground hideout. The change was noticed by everyone, but only Kanda knew the reason behind it, and that made the exorcist uneasy.

Kanda couldn't care less about what the white-haired boy chose to do with his life - or so he told himself - but the fact that he was keeping his reckless plan a secret irritated him.

Was he really so selfish that he'd give no warning before he went off to get himself killed? Hadn't he said the sewer rat was the important person to him or something? So why wasn't he saying anything about his stupid plan?

It was such an _Allen_ thing to do, further showing how the similarities between them went beyond physical. The thought of having Allen do something like that angered Kanda to no end, and he couldn't help but sympathizing with Nezumi in that regard. Of course, the situations were completely different, seeing how the exorcists were most definitively _not_ in love like the other two obviously were, but the Japanese exorcist couldn't stop the feelings of kinship with Nezumi from arising in that situation.

Nezumi wasn't oblivious to Shion's mood, though. He could sense something wasn't quite right with the airhead, who, instead of chattering away during the walk back, only spoke when he was directly addressed. It kind of worried him, but Nezumi couldn't bring himself to ask the boy what was wrong with the exorcists around.

So that's why he waited until they were back at his house before he said anything.

"All this walking made me so hungry!" Shion spoke for the first time in a long while, but to no one in particular. "I bet you're all hungry, too, right?"

Allen's growling stomach was answer enough. "Haha, yeah," he laughed, a little embarrassed. "Want help, Shion?"

"Actually, I have to go out to buy some ingredients," the shorter of the two said.

"We have food," Nezumi intervened.

"Yeah, but I wanted to make something special for Allen and Kanda-san to thank them for their help with the bees," he replied.

"Then why didn't you say so when we were on our way here?" Nezumi pressed. Something felt off, Shion's change from quiet to normal had been way too abrupt for his liking.

"I guess I forgot," he said. "But I'll go and be right back, okay?"

"I'll go with you," Kanda announced, moving towards the door after the white-haired boy.

"No, you stay here," Nezumi said, "I want to talk to you." Kanda frowned, but stayed in place.

"I'll go with him," Allen said. Before Shion could protest, the exorcist was already pushing him out the door, his stomach growling impatiently again. "We'll be right back!"

As soon as the boys were out the door, Nezumi turned to Kanda with an impatient look that bordered on anger.

"What?" the exorcist asked.

"What happened? Shion's acting all weird, and don't you tell me that I'm imagining it, 'cause I know very well that I'm not. So tell me what's wrong with him," Nezumi demanded.

"Che, if you want to know that badly, ask me properly," Kanda said.

"Hah, getting cocky on me, eh? Girly-faced bastard…" Nezumi muttered, and Kanda turned away from him angrily at that, fully intending to keep the bit of information from him. Nezumi's sudden grasp of his elbow surprised the exorcist, who found the other with his head hanging dejectedly when he looked back. "I'm sorry. Tell me what's wrong with Shion."

"Hmm?"

Nezumi looked up at Kanda, still holding his arm. "Please tell me what happened."

After a moment of silence, the exorcist proceeded to tell the dark-haired boy all about what had happened at Karan's house, with her telling her son about some girl named Safu's abduction, Shion's plan to go to someplace called Correctional Facility to save her, and his mother's pleads for him not to go. Nezumi's eyes widened at the story, and, dropping his hand from Kanda's arm, he took a shaky step back.

"What the hell is he thinking?" he said. "Is he really going to try to save her at the cost of his life? Without telling me anything?"

"What is this Correctional Facility thing?" Kanda asked.

"It's where No.6 takes in prisoners to secretly perform tests and experiments on them."

"What are you going to do?"

"Stop him, of course," Nezumi said, sitting down on the couch.

The exorcist sat down beside him. "How?"

"By going with him."

* * *

"Shion, where are we going?" Allen asked, noticing how they were walking past what looked to be markets.

"I have to talk to a friend," Shion answered, then gave the exorcist an apologetic smile, "Sorry to make you wait, Allen. But look, we're here already."

_Here_ turned out to be a huge old building in which Shion walked right in. "Is this a hotel?" Allen asked.

"Kind of. Hello?" the other called, and immediately a big dog jumped at him from behind a couch, knocking the boy down.

"Shion!" the exorcist yelled. "Innocence, activate!"

"No, no, no need for that!" Shion assured, laughing as the dog licked his face repeatedly. "They are friends!"

"What is that thing on your arm?" a voice sounded from above, and Allen looked up to find a long-haired… person… looking down at them from the story above, holding a lantern.

"Inukashi!" Shion greeted. "This here is my friend Allen Walker. Allen, this is my friend and employer, Inukashi." Then, under his breath, the shorter white-haired boy told him to put his Innocence away, which he did.

Inukashi frowned, but didn't mention the exorcist's disappearing metal arm. "So what brings you here, Shion? Where's Nezumi?"

"He's back home. I have somethings to ask you," he said, climbing up the stairs with an awkward Allen on his heels.

"Ehh? _You_ have things to ask me? How come Nezumi is not with you for that? Did he put you up to it? Look, tell him that he won't get a better price by sending you to─"

"It's not that, Inukashi. I came here alone because I don't want to involve Nezumi," Shion said, his voice holding a strange ring of determination to it. Allen frowned.

"Shion? Wasn't this about getting food?" the exorcist asked.

When the boy turned to face him, he had a wide smile plastered on his face. "Of course. Inukashi, can you lend one of your dogs to show Allen where to get pie and lots of food?"

Inukashi looked puzzled for a moment before whistling. A dog suddenly appeared from around a corner and joined the dog that had appeared earlier. "They'll take you there."

"Here, take this. It's the money I earned working for Inukashi," Shion said, grabbing some coins from his pockets and laying them in Allen's hand.

"Shion, aren't you coming?" Allen asked, now fully aware that this little meeting had nothing to do with food at all. While he was worried about what the boy possibly had to do that involved lying to Nezumi, his growling stomach resented it.

"You go on ahead, this won't take long," Shion smiled reassuringly and stepped back.

Allen nodded slowly, turning around and following the two dogs that were already heading towards the exit. The exorcist figured he might as well go and buy the food so he could return quickly and try to hear what the talk was about.

Most of the stores were dark and looked closed already, but the two dogs led Allen to a small place that still had the lights on. The exorcist went inside, and an old lady sitting on a tall chair greeted him with a kind smile.

"What do you need, dear?" she asked.

"Do you have pie, please?" Allen asked, not sure how to go about it.

"Yes, of course," she smiled, getting up from the chair and walking slowly behind a counter, from which she withdrew a tasty-looking pie. "You're lucky. This is the last one. Anything else?"

"No, thanks," Allen smiled, and his stomach growled loudly. He blushed, and the old lady laughed heartily. "Okay… what can I buy with these?" he asked, showing her half of the coins Shion had given him.

"Are ingredients okay, dear? They are less expensive than ready meals, so you can get more," she said.

"Anything that you can cook quickly and using a fire is okay, I think," Allen said, scratching the back of his head with a smile.

After a few more minutes, Allen ended up leaving the place with an armful of what he was told were ingredients to make a lot of soup, and a box the lady had given him to put the pie in. The dogs, which were waiting outside, wagged their tails when he returned and started walking back to the hotel.

"I think we should speed up, guys," Allen said, not sure if the dogs would understand him or not. They had understood Inukashi, after all. "I'm worried about Shion."

The exorcist started jogging, and the dogs sped up, too, leading the way back.

* * *

"That's crazy, Shion!" Inukashi yelled at the white-haired boy who sat calmly on her red couch.

"I have to save Safu," he said, unwavering.

"And you're willing to throw your life away for that?"

"There's no way to say that I will for sure."

"Are you stupid? It's the Correctional Facility we're talking about! No one ever leaves that place alive!"

"I'm going, Inukashi. Thanks for this," Shion said, waving the folded blueprint of the inside setup of the Facility, "You helped me a lot." Shion stood up and walked towards the door.

"That's outdated, Shion. It's almost the base blueprint!" Inukashi said. "I gave it to you because I didn't know you'd be using it for that!"

"That's okay. I just need to know the basic stuff anyways."

"You are aware that you can't possibly dream of getting in without an IC card, right?"

"Unless I'm a prisoner," Shion nodded.

"What about Nezumi?"

"He doesn't know, and I intend to keep it that way. Please don't tell him anything."

"You're such an idiot!" Inukashi growled.

"Nn. See you later," he said, waving with a smile. When he opened the door of the room, he almost jumped back at the sight of Allen, who was standing right outside of it.

"Oh, Allen, you're back! Did you find the ingredients?" Shion asked.

"I did. Here's what's left," the exorcist said, grabbing Shion's hand and unceremoniously handing him back the unused coins.

"Thanks, but you really should've used it all. I'm sure you're starving. Let's get back?"

"Yeah," Allen agreed, descending the steps back to the exit.

"I'll help you with that," Shion offered, taking some of the load off Allen and carrying packages himself.

Back outside, they walked in silence for a while, passing the dangerous dark streets without any trouble. Shion thought it might have something to do with the impatient aura Allen was emitting.

"What do you do for Inukashi as a job?" Allen asked after a while.

"I wash her dogs," the other replied.

"And you make that much money? The lady at the store seemed surprised when I showed her how much I was willing to pay, and that was only half of what you gave me."

"Oh, that's not just from one day," Shion said.

"Why were you willing to spend all of your money on one meal?"

"Because I wanted to make it special, as I said before," Shion frowned, not sure why Allen was being so forceful in his pointless questioning. They were almost home, and Shion found himself quickening his pace a little.

"That's because you think it's going to be your last dinner with us, isn't it?" the exorcist stated, surprising the other boy. "Because you're throwing your life away by going somewhere no one ever returns from alive, without even telling Nezumi."

Shion stopped walking to gape at Allen. "You heard?"

"Part of it. Why are you trying to take it all onto yourself, Shion?" the exorcist asked with an angry tone the other hadn't heard from him before.

"You don't understand…" Shion sighed, rubbing his forehead warily.

"So make me understand!" Allen sighed, seeming to calm down a little. "I thought we were friends."

"We are! And that's exactly why I don't want to involve any of you. The Correctional Facility is no joke, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to you, Nezumi, or Kanda-san," the boy said.

Allen opened his mouth to protest again, but Shion raised a hand to stop him. "I'm going, Allen. Alone. And I don't want you to tell Nezumi. He'd just try to force me not to go, and I can't leave Safu in that place."

"Shion─"

"That's enough. Thanks for worrying, but I'm going to be okay," Shion smiled and resumed his walking.

Back at the hideout, Kanda and Nezumi awaited the boys with their arms crossed, their stances almost exactly the same. _They don't look so averse to each other's presence anymore,_ Shion thought when he saw that.

"Tadaima!" he announced happily, setting the food down on the table. Allen quietly did the same.

"Took you long enough," Kanda muttered.

"Exactly. Did you force the other oyaji to carry you or something, Your Majesty?" Nezumi mocked, circling Shion much like a predator would with its prey.

"No, but most places were closed already, and it was hard to find a place that was still open. Right, Allen?" he looked back at the white-haired exorcist, who nodded after a momentary pause.

"Ehh… I gotta say, your acting's not bad for an amateur. You'd be even better suited for theater than the girly-faced bastard here, dare I say," Nezumi said.

"Nezumi, what're you─"

Shion was cut off when the dark-haired boy shoved him down, grabbing his shoulders and pinning them down hard onto the floor. Crawling on top of him, Nezumi immobilized the rest of the boy's body, preventing him from getting up.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" the trapped boy yelled, and was yanked up and shoved down again, knocking the air out of his lungs.

"I know about your friend."

Shion's eyes widened, and he turned to glare at Kanda. "I told you not to say anything!"

The exorcist simply shrugged.

"Shion," Nezumi said somberly, calling Shion's attention back by trailing one of the hands that held down the boy's shoulders sideways to his neck. His fingers ghosted over the pink scar there for a moment before they dug into the skin, squeezing Shion's neck too tight for comfort.

"Not going to resist?" Nezumi asked, and the white-haired boy shook his head as best as he could. "You surely give up easily. Don't you care if you live or die?"

"Of course I do," Shion said.

"'You'd never kill me.' That's what you're thinking, right?"

"It is."

"Hmph," Nezumi smiled cruelly, pulling out a switchblade from his coat and snapping it open. "Don't get so full of yourself." He pressed the tip of the knife to Shion's neck, where it broke the skin and a drop of red blood oozed to the side, disappearing around his neck.

"Nezumi…" Allen stepped towards them but Kanda stopped him by blocking his path with an extended arm and shaking his head.

"You're hungry, aren't you, moyashi? Why don't you try cooking that?" the taller exorcist suggested, pointing to all of the food on the table.

"How can you think about that when they're fighting so intensely just over there?" Allen hissed under his breath, but his stomach growled impatiently at the mention of food.

"It's none of our business what they do."

"But what if I ruin the food?"

"Che. Useless." Kanda snatched the pot he'd seen Shion cook in the day before from the table and jerked his head towards the door. "Come on."

"Where?" Allen asked.

"To get some water." The younger exorcist was about to protest when Kanda raised an eyebrow. It dawned on him, and, getting the hint, Allen followed the Japanese out the door.

Nezumi waited until the door shut behind the exorcists to lean down and lick the trail of blood from Shion's neck. The shorter boy's eyes widened and his breath hitched at the action.

"This is your punishment, you know," Nezumi murmured, his hot breath sending goosebumps across Shion's skin.

"F-for protecting you?" the other's voice was shaky.

Nezumi pulled back and sat up on Shion's stomach. "For lying to me. And looking down on me."

"I never did that!" Shion protested, trying to sit up but failing miserably.

"Lying to someone means like you're looking down on them! Did you seriously think it was okay to sneak off on your own and get killed in an impossible mission? You should have told me!"

"You've done enough already, Nezumi!" Shion yelled, pushing Nezumi away. The motion surprised the other, who fell backwards, letting Shion sit up while he stared, stunned. "If I told you, you'd try to stop me… Maybe you'd even try to go with me… That's what I felt. You expect me to put you in even more danger for my sake? There's no way I could ever do that, idiot!"

Shion was panting, and had a tight grip on the collar of Nezumi's shirt, already loosened from his little incident with Kanda. Frowning deeply, Nezumi raised a hand under Shion's chin and lifted his head so their eyes could meet. Although their faces were leveled, the shorter boy's eyes flickered downwards, refusing to make eye contact.

"Keep your chin up. Things will work out. We'll _make_ them work out!" Nezumi said, his voice ringing with determination. "Let's put together a proper plan. We can even ask the other two for help with this. As much as I hate to admit it, they're strong, much stronger than the both of us put together. You understand, don't you? We're not going in the Correctional Facility to get slaughtered. We're going to save that friend of yours."

"…Nezumi."

"Hm?"

Shion's eyes finally raised to meet Nezumi's, and, if a bit painfully, he smiled. "Thank you. You've saved me yet again."

Nezumi stared.

"Nezumi."

"Hm?"

"Come here for a second."

The dark-haired boy leaned closer. "Huh? What is it?"

Shion dropped his head down to his shoulder. "…I'm glad I met you."

"…What's with that all of a sudden?"

The boy raised his head slowly, the side of his face brushing against Nezumi's. It was the closest they'd ever been since they were 12 and Shion was checking Nezumi's temperature by pressing their foreheads together.

Nezumi remained absolutely still as the tip of Shion's nose moved across his cheekbone just to stop when it reached the side of his. Their faces an inch away from touching, their breaths mingled together, blowing past their parted lips.

When Shion tentatively pressed his lips to Nezumi's, the taller boy's breath hitched audibly. Shion pulled back slowly, his eyes raking over Nezumi's face, gauging his reaction. After a moment of silence, the latter buried a hand in the former's white locks and pulled him into another kiss, deeper this time. Shion sagged against Nezumi, his eyes fluttering closed, letting him take the lead.

* * *

"I wonder if Shion and Nezumi are still fighting," Allen spoke idly as he and Kanda lounged on the ground outside the room. "Probably not. It's gotten quiet all of a sudden."

"Che. Maybe in there," Kanda commented, and, as if on cue, Allen's stomach growled loudly.

"It takes a lot to support parasitic Innocence, okay?" the white-haired exorcist defended, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Right."

They sat in silence for a few more moments, and paled when a loud moan was heard from inside the room Nezumi and Shion were in. Eyes widening, Kanda blushed, thankful for the darkness of the hall. Allen just laughed softly, things like these not phasing him, thanks to his Master's many escapades over the years.

"Ne, Kanda, what exactly do you think they're doing in there?"

"Che, don't ask me, pervert. If you're so curious, go see for yourself."

"No way, that'd be mean!"

Another silence, and yet another loud moan echoed down the hall, this time followed by a deeper groan. Allen bit his lip.

"Hey, I think I will."

"Will what?"

"See for myself."

"Ehh? What are you saying, baka moyashi?"

"I'm really curious! Besides, just a little peek won't hurt anybody."

"Damn voyeur," Kanda muttered, but his his stomach clenched uncomfortably at the image of what could be happening on the other side of the wall.

Allen crawled towards the closed door, reaching up and carefully wrapping his fingers around the handle. Looking back at Kanda with a mischievous smirk, Allen gently pushed the door one or two inches open, enough that he'd be able to peek inside but remain unnoticed by the two boys.

He shouldn't have bothered. To say they were preoccupied was a bit of an understatement.

No longer laying on the floor, Nezumi and Shion had moved to sit on the small couch. Or rather _Nezumi_ sat on the couch while Shion straddled his lap, his turquoise sweater forgotten on the floor by their feet and his white shirt unbuttoned and halfway down his back, tangled somewhere on his elbows. From the loosened waist of his pants, Allen guessed they were also unbuttoned, but he couldn't be sure because Shion's entire front was pressed flush against Nezumi. Also, the fact that the taller boy's hand was shamelessly stuck down the back of said loosened pants was enough of a distraction in itself.

"Ne…zu…mi…" Shion panted, throwing his head back and raking Nezumi's bangs back with gentle fingers.

The movement let Allen catch a glimpse of the white-haired boy's expression, and the exorcist couldn't help but let out a mumbled "Kawaii…", in Japanese, at the sight of Shion's flushed pale skin.

Nezumi reached with his free hand and gripped Shion's wrist tightly, bringing it down to rest on his hip. Shion obediently curled his hand around it, and arched his back with a moan when Nezumi bent forward and bit his collarbone, a smirk on his lips. Oh, so he'd been the one making those sounds from before…

Allen looked over his shoulder at Kanda, who was shifting uncomfortably. "Come take a look," the younger exorcist beckoned.

"As if," the other snorted, but his eyes flickered to the door for a moment before he looked away again.

"Aren't you curious?"

"Who'd be?"

Allen looked inside again, just in time to see Shion let Nezumi's hair down. His dark hair looked a lot like Kanda's in that moment, brushing past his shoulders and covering his face as he bent further down to lick at the white-haired boy's chest.

"They're not fighting anymore," Allen stated.

"Obviously."

Shion tried to move in Nezumi's lap, but the taller boy held him down, gripping his elbow tightly as his hand delved further down the back of his pants.

Kanda swallowed as Shion's whimper echoed down the hall.

Allen looked back at his companion and smirked triumphantly when he saw just how flustered he was, without even an image to go with all the noises.

"Heeeh… Sure you don't want to look?"

"Yes. Just leave them alone, idiot."

"Hm. Alright." Allen shut the door and scooted back to his previous spot. "I think we're sleeping outside today."

"Whatever."

Allen couldn't help but laugh before settling back and making himself as comfortable as possible against the cold wall of the hall, doing his best to ignore his growling stomach.

* * *

**A/N: Japanese phrases (not redefining the basic ones from last chapter):**

_**Ittekimasu -**_ said when you leave the house (i.e. I'm leaving)

_**Itterasshai -**_ said when others leave the house (i.e. Take care)

_**Tadaima -**_ said when returning to the house (i.e. I'm home)

_**Kawaii -**_ cute

**Nezumi and Shion's… scene… was based on this lovely, lovely image: **

25 . media . tumblr (dot com) / tumblr _ m4wl9vH4AT1rq260vo1 _ 500 . jpg _**(remove spaces)**_

Now can you see why I got a little carried away?


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Don't own No.6 or DGM, so don't sue me.

**Rating:** T for language and BL.

**A/N: **I'd like to thank everyone who's been reading and reviewing this! I didn't expect to get any feedback, and the fact that there's anyone reading this at all makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. I'm really thankful, especially for those of you who've been giving me advice on how to improve! Also, I apologize for my irregular updating schedule.

* * *

The door to the room opened a while later by a very disheveled Shion. When he saw his new friends laying down on the cold ground outside their room and heard Allen's stomach growl loudly, he flushed with guilt.

"Allen… Kanda-san… Sorry to have kept you waiting. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Hmm, I'm so hungry I could eat an Akuma right now!" Allen laughed and went back into the room, stretching his stiff limbs. Kanda followed without a word.

Shion left to get the water he needed to heat up for their stew, and as soon as the door was closed behind him, Allen and Kanda both turned their gazes towards Nezumi.

"What?" the dark-haired boy asked, tying his hair back into its usual knot.

"Well? How did it go?" Allen asked. Kanda shot him a meaningful glare, but the other exorcist didn't seem notice - that or he just didn't care.

"None of your damn business," Nezumi grumbled, turning away to hide his contented smile.

"What I mean is, what did you guys decide about that friend of Shion's?" Allen explained with a smile of his own.

"I'm going with him." Nezumi slowly turned to face the exorcists before he continued, "What about you?"

"What about us?"

"Are you coming? I'll pay you for your services."

"Che, as if we needed anything you can offer us," Kanda replied. "Unless you have a way of transporting us away from his godforsaken place."

Nezumi glared at the older exorcist, who remained unfazed. "If you're so bothered, why don't you _leave?"_

"Oh, trust me, I would, if I knew how to."

"You fucking bastard—"

"Now, now, let's not start with that," Allen said, then turned to face Nezumi.

Shion returned with the water just then, oblivious to the shift in mood since his departure. "I almost forgot, Nezumi! Allen and I bought pie! It's not Mother's cherry pie, but still. How does that sound?"

When no one else replied, Allen felt sorry for Shion and walked towards the white-haired boy with a cheerful grin. "Seems like you've stunned them into silence, Shion! I can say that _I'm_ looking forward to eating that yummy pie~"

"I'm sure you are," Shion laughed when the exorcist's stomach growled yet again. "Sorry for making you wait for so long, Allen."

"Oh, it's okay," Allen grinned and held himself back from saying something that would make the other boy blush. "Can I help you with something, Shion?"

Once dinner was served, Allen gulped down his bowl of soup almost as quickly as it was poured for him. Nezumi shot him an annoyed look and Kanda rolled his eyes, but Shion just laughed and served the young exorcist another helping.

After he'd served everyone, Shion just sat back against the small sofa he was sharing with Nezumi and watched his friends eating with a smile on his face.

"Oy, Shion, aren't you going to eat? That airhead over there will eat everything if you don't hurry," Nezumi said.

"I'll eat in a second," was his reply.

The room fell silent after that, the only sounds those of food being guzzled down by Allen. Shion still wasn't eating, but carefully cutting the pie into 4 pieces, looking contented enough just doing that.

"If you have something to say, just spit it out," Kanda grumbled, and Nezumi shot him a death glare. He had to admit he felt the same way, but it annoyed him that Kanda was speaking to Shion so familiarly.

"I'm just very happy," the boy said, but the corners of his lips drew down when he added, "Even though I shouldn't."

"Don't be an idiot," Nezumi grumbled between mouthfuls, "We'll get that girl back. Now quit spouting nonsense and eat."

Allen put his empty bowl down and, to everyone's surprise, spoke for the first time during their meal, "Yeah. We'll help you get your friend back."

_"What?" _Kanda repeated in disbelief, almost dropping his food. "We are_ what?_"

"Helping _our friends_ rescue their friend," Allen said. "Isn't that obvious?"

"No way. No _fucking_ way!"

"Allen, you don't need to…"

"Oh, just shut up already, both of you!" Allen yelled over the protests, exasperated. "Kanda, why shouldn't we, hm? It's not like a portal to the Order will suddenly manifest in here during our absence or something. And Shion, just be quiet and accept our help. See, Nezumi looks perfectly satisfied."

Nezumi dropped his smile and scowled.

"And now I'd like to ask for another serving, please. And it tastes delicious, Shion."

"You're just hungry," Nezumi muttered.

Kanda snorted and resumed eating.

Shion smiled again and poured the last of the soup into Allen's bowl.

* * *

"So what's your big plan?" Nezumi questioned Shion after everyone had finished their pie. It had been good, but like the white-haired boy had predicted, nothing like Karan's cherry pie.

"Um, well, Inukashi gave me this…" Shion reached for the blueprint of the Correctional Facility he'd gotten from Inukashi and handed it Nezumi.

"And? How do you plan of us getting in?"

"Maybe as prisoners? I mean, we're already wanted, right? So…"

"Can't do that. They have our personal information in their main computer, so if we just attack the management offices and wait to get captured, they'll realize who I am and that you're a fugitive first-degree criminal in no time flat. Then, if we're lucky, we won't have enough time to save that girl before they give us the death penalty."

"But there's no way we can get in otherwise!"

"Then we'll just have to consult Rikiga."

"Rikiga-san? What can he tell us?"

"Who knows," Nezumi shrugged, "He has shady clients from No. 6. He might have information that he'll share with us… for a price, of course."

Bored with all the tactics talk, Kanda settled back in his usual position against the wall and tried to will himself into sleep. At least that would get his mind to stop raving about the stupidity of this all. Helping two annoying strangers… who would've thought?

Allen lay down on the sofa and yawned, letting Shion and Nezumi's voices fall into the background. It had been a long day and the next ones didn't look like they'd be much different.

* * *

Allen was snapped awake at the sound of his name. Despite the fact that it'd been his actual _name_ that had been called, and not Kanda's preferred nickname for him, Allen immediately knew it'd been the older exorcist who'd yelled it from somewhere outside their room. He jumped from his place on the sofa and ran out without a second thought.

The sound of the front door being slammed shut with enough force to rattle the frame snapped both Nezumi and Shion awake. The dark-haired boy was up to his feet and clutching his knife before he was even fully awake, and Shion peered around him at the shut door.

"What's wrong?" he frowned, getting up to stand beside Nezumi.

"They're gone, so I have a pretty good idea of what's wrong." Nezumi stalked to the door and, without looking back, said, "Stay here," getting out and shutting it again behind him.

After a moment's shock, Shion huffed and rushed out after him, "Like hell I will!"

Just to shoved back by Nezumi when he reached the other outside their underground hideout. Annoyed, the white-haired boy pushed him away and stepped into the scene.

The first thing Shion noticed Kanda's swords were glowing. He hadn't seen the exorcist had been carrying _two_ swords, but now he held one blade in each hand, their glowing blue streaks connecting in a strand behind him. For a moment, he wondered how the swords could emit such intense light and connect on thin air like that, but then he saw what it was that Kanda had been using those against.

He was completely surrounded. There were floating ball-shaped creatures sporting dozens of gun barrels everywhere, and he could also see what looked like 9-feet-tall medieval armored… people? Shion really hoped not… attacking Kanda.

A grunt called his attention to somewhere off to the side, where Allen was facing similar threats with his mechanic Innocence arm again. Both exorcists seemed to kill the monsters without much problem, but there were simply _too many of them_ for only two people, no matter how skilled.

The same thought was running in Nezumi's mind, and he knew that he and Shion would _not_ fare as well as the other two against the Akuma. He recognized the floating demons, but the armored ones were new, and seemed to be the ones giving the exorcists most of the trouble. They had to –

"Get out of here!" Allen yelled. "Timcanpy! Go!"

"No!" Shion yelled back, and that made up Nezumi's mind.

He grabbed the white-haired boy by the arm and took off towards the West Block center.

"Stop, Nezumi, what are you doing? They need help!" Shion struggled, but Nezumi only tightened his grip and quickened his step. He didn't know if there were any Akuma following them, but didn't dare look back and falter a step.

"And what do you expect us to do, huh? Get them to choke on our limbs? Don't be an idiot!"

"But Allen and Kanda–"

"Can handle themselves. We'd only distract them. Now stop concerning yourself over others and worry about yourself! What would your Mama think if her Shion died here, huh? Don't you want to save that girl?"

"Nezumi… Nezumi, slow down! I can't run like this!" Shion struggled and Nezumi loosened his grip, but not enough that the other could break free.

As they approached the city, they started hearing screams and loud booms, along with sounds of buildings collapsing.

"They're here, too?" Shion panted, struggling to get air back into his lungs after a run at Nezumi's pace.

"No, this sounds different," Nezumi said.

"Shouldn't we leave?"

"No, this… Get down!" Nezumi pushed Shion to the ground, covering him with his body and pulling his super fiber cloth to shield them both from the falling rubble from the building above. "Shion! Are you alright?"

"Of course…" Shion pushed himself up and gasped in shock when he realized the building they'd been standing next to was gone, leaving only rubble in its wake. "W-w-what's..?"

"It's the Manhunt. They're getting rid of us scum," Nezumi told Shion and grabbed his hand. "So… Don't leave my side."

"I don't..."

"Make sure you stay where I can see you. If we lose sight of one another during the Manhunt… We'll probably never see each other again."

"So why don't we leave! If we run, we might still–"

"It's the perfect way to infiltrate the Correctional Facility. They don't keep track of who they're bringing in and everyone will be too distracted to notice us. We won't get another chance like this," Nezumi said, squeezing the shorter boy's hand when he looked down.

"I understand," Shion grimaced.

A tank suddenly appeared around the corner, crushing bodies, furniture, rocks, _everything,_ without a care in the world. A crowd of survivors stood ahead, surrounded by similar war tanks and armed soldiers.

They were being herded.

Above their heads, a yellow golem twitched anxiously.

* * *

"There are too fucking many of them!" Kanda growled in between slashes. "How come this is the first we've seen of them?"

"Yeah, this is strange!" Allen called back. "I hope Shion and Nezumi will be okay."

"Che, quit worrying about others, damn mo–" Kanda didn't get to finish his sentence before three Level 3s were pouncing at him at the same time.

"Kanda!" Allen pushed past the Akuma he was fighting and ran to the other exorcist's aid. "Cross Grave!"

"I don't need your _help_," Kanda snapped. Allen ignored him. Whatever he said, taking on too many Level 3s alone wouldn't end well.

"Why do you think they came here?" the younger exorcist asked. "They couldn't have known we're here, right? But… I guess we were a bit careless… Still, so many of them…"

"It's like for every bastard we kill three more show up!" Kanda agreed.

"Where are they all coming from? And… Wait! Do you think they're attacking the city, too? Kanda, we have to go!"

"And run away like cowards? Hmph, as if."

"What difference does it make if we're fighting here or at the city, where we can actually be useful? Besides, I'm really worried about Shion and Nezumi! I'm going, come on!"

Allen slashed a final cross over a Level 3 and took off in the direction he'd seen the others go. He'd sent Tim with them, but there wasn't much the golem could do if they were attacked like this. At least he'd know where they were.

He didn't bother looking behind him to check if Kanda was following; the loud cursing said it all.

When they reached the main street, it was obvious that the place had been attacked, too, if the smoke columns, destroyed buildings and sprawled bodies were anything to go by. However, the damage here seemed less of a product of Akuma attacks and more like a hurricane had just swept by. Unless they were facing Giant Akuma. That would be troublesome.

"What the fuck is that thing?"

Allen looked over his shoulder at Kanda and followed the exorcist's dumbfounded gaze. On the other side of the street was what looked like a huge metal… armor?… with several wheels rolling over a metal chain.

"It has a barrel like the Level 1s… But I've never seen anything like it..."

"It's not an Akuma…" Allen said, noting how his eye had not activated in its presence.

The metal thing suddenly stopped moving and its barrel turned towards them. It might not be an Akuma, but both exorcists knew to duck when the shot exploded, emitting what looked like energy waves and a green light. The building behind them exploded with the impact, sending both exorcists flying forward. Kanda was the first to react, jumping up and cutting off its barrel with Mugen before it could fire again.

Frowning, the exorcist looked down at the severed chunk of metal on the ground and then back at the unresponsive thing.

"Behind you!" Allen yelled when a small door on top of the thing was flung open and a man wearing some kind of mask over his head rose from inside. He was holding a metal weapon. "He's human!"

Kanda shoved the weapon away with Mugen and held the blade at the man's throat. He held his arms up in surrender immediately. "Get out!" he ordered, and the uniformed man obeyed. "Is there anyone else inside?"

After a moment's hesitation, the man nodded silently.

"Go get them, I'll watch over this one," Allen offered. Kanda nodded curtly and jumped inside the metal… container? vehicle?

Allen extended his activated arm towards the man when he reached for the other weapon he had attached to his belt. The man immediately cowered at the sight of Allen's deformed arm, raising his in defeat once more. The exorcist reached over and took the weapon from the man, fully aware that he probably had others. They were human, however, and nothing he and Kanda couldn't handle.

A few moments later, two other men wearing the same gray uniform and head protection came out from inside the metal vehicle, followed by Kanda. Under the threat of Mugen, they knelt down beside the first man and didn't move as Allen removed the weapons they had in sight.

"Take that thing off," Kanda ordered, jerking his chin towards their head gear. Two of the men reached up to remove it, but the third one reached back and pulled out another weapon. In a move unexpectedly quick for a human, he jumped up and away from Kanda's pointed sword, and pressed the weapon to Allen's forehead.

"Drop it or I'll blow your bitch's brains out!" the man threatened, then, with a low chuckle, added, "…or are you the bitch, faggot?"

"Why are you _doing_ this?" Allen yelled, easily shoving the man off and kicking the piece from his hand.

"And who's the faggot?" Kanda added, glaring murderously at the man sprawled on the ground and pressing the tip of Mugen to his throat.

"You!" Allen turned towards the two other men, their fear now evident without the masks covering their faces. "You're human! Why did you attack this place?"

"O-orders," one of them stuttered.

"From who? The Noah Clan? The Millennium Earl?" Allen narrowed his eyes.

"W-who?" the man frowned.

"We're just doing our job. We can't have this place filled with too many people or we're in danger of having rebellions," the other said.

"What is that?" Kanda pointed his sword towards the metal vehicle they'd been in, not taking his eyes away from the disobedient one.

"Uh, a tank?"

"Che," the older exorcist rolled his eyes but didn't bother questioning further.

"More importantly, what happened to everyone? There were lots of people here, and now…" Allen paused, looking around in despair at the dozens of mauled corpses. "…It can't be that everyone…"

"Some were taken to the Correctional Facility," the man under Kanda's glare spat, "Not that it matters. They'll all die like pigs, just like this scum."

"_Shut up!_" Allen screamed, knocking out the guy with a blow of his closed fist to his nose.

Kanda lowered his sword and visibly relaxed. "This Correctional Facility, that's…"

"Yeah. Where Shion's friend was taken. Good thing I sent– Tim!" Allen gasped as his golem suddenly flew down from the sky, flying frantically around its master. "Shion and Nezumi were taken to that place, weren't they? Please, take us there!"

Timcanpy took off then, and Allen started running after him. Kanda turned to the two trembling humans and knocked them out with a blow of Mugen each.

"Kanda?" Allen spoke when the other had caught up with them.

"What."

"I forgot to ask… What's a faggot?"

"Che, you think I know? And who the hell cares about what it means anyways."

"Yeah. Let's go!"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for making this shorter than usual, but my chapter division's already bad as it is… I'll have to fix that sometime. xP**

So I hear No.6 is getting an English dub! It seems to be unpopular amongst many, but personally, I'm looking forward to it, even if it's just for a good laugh. Any thoughts?


End file.
